Lip force detecting apparatus

ABSTRACT

A method is provided to measure the difference of lip closure force between left and right lips and find weaknesses in left and right lips that are caused by hypoplasia, atrophy and paralysis so that such symptoms can be treated in early stages. A lip force detecting apparatus for detecting the closure force of lips includes a housing, the upper base portion and the lower base portion for lips protruding from the housing and can be pressed using upper and lower lips, the control unit respectively measures the pressing force generated when the left side of lips presses the upper base portion and the lower base portion, and measures the pressing force generated when the right side of lips presses the upper base portion and the lower base portion.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Taiwanese application No. 107130422having a filing date of Aug. 30, 2018, the entire contents both of whichare hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

This following relates to a lip force detecting apparatus that measuresthe lip closure force of the subject.

BACKGROUND

In the past, in order to evaluate the effectiveness of lip closure forcetraining using a lips training device, a simple method of using a lipforce detecting apparatus for measuring lip closure force is well known.

A lip detecting device that measures the subject's lip force helpshealth care workers to understand the subject's treatment condition. Thedevice comprises an airbag, a pressing force detecting unit, and a microcontrol module. The airbag allows the subject to place it between thesubject's lips. The pressing force detecting unit is connected to theairbag for detecting the pressing force that the subject exerts on theairbag, and later is generated into a signal. The micro control moduleis electrically connected to the pressing force detecting unit and cantransform the signal into a lip force value.

However, the traditional lip force detecting apparatus cannot measurethe force difference between the left and right lips. Therefore, itcannot diagnose symptoms such as hypoplasia, atrophy and paralysis whichare caused by cerebral infarction and would lead to difference in leftand right lip closure force. Moreover, the traditional apparatus cannotdiagnose important issues such as hypoplasia, atrophy and paralysisearly.

SUMMARY

An aspect relates to a lip force detecting apparatus which measures thedifference of lip closure force between the left and right lips througha simple method and find weak spots in left and right lips that arecaused by hypoplasia, atrophy and paralysis so that such symptoms can betreated early.

The lip force detecting apparatus of embodiments of this invention, alip force detecting apparatus for detecting the closure force of lips,comprising: a housing; the upper base portion and the lower base portionfor lips protruding from said housing and can be pressed using upper andlower lips; the control unit respectively measures the pressing forcegenerated when the left side of lips presses the upper base portion andthe lower base portion, and measures the pressing force generated whenthe right side of lips presses the upper base portion and the lower baseportion.

Moreover, the lip force detecting apparatus of embodiments of thisinvention also comprises a transmitting unit, wherein said detectingunit measures the pressing force generated when the left side of lipspresses said base portion for lips and the pressing force generated whenthe right side of lips presses said base portion for lips, compares thedifference of forces between both lips and transmit such signals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

Some of the embodiments will be described in detail, with references tothe following Figures, wherein like designations denote like members,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the lip force detecting apparatus in accordancewith a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a base portion for lips from a frontupper diagonal side in accordance with the first embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a base portion for lips from a frontlower diagonal side in accordance with the first embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of taken along line A-A of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a configuration block diagram of the lip force detectingapparatus in accordance with the first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the lip force detecting apparatus in accordancewith a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is the front view of the lip force detecting apparatus inaccordance with the second embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is the profile view of the lip force detecting apparatus inaccordance with the second embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments below refer to the corresponding figures and describethe lip force detecting apparatus of embodiments of the presentinvention in detail. Figures are illustrated with description usingorthogonal coordinate system of X axis, Y axis and Z axis. The positivedirection of Y axis is forward, while the negative direction of Y axisis backward; the direction of X axis is bilateral direction (left-rightdirection); and the positive direction of Z axis is upward and negativedirection of Z axis is downward.

Embodiment 1 [Configuration of the Lip Force Detecting Apparatus]

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5, the lip force detecting apparatus 1 inembodiment 1 of the present invention is described below.

The lip force detecting apparatus 1, comprising, a housing 100, an upperbase portion 10 a, a lower base portion 10 b, a control unit 201, adetecting unit 202 a, a detecting unit 202 b, a memory unit 203, and apower source 204. The control unit 201, detecting unit 202 a, detectingunit 202 b, memory unit 203, and power source 204 are stored in thehousing 100. Moreover, the control unit 201 and memory unit 203 arecomposed of the electrical components from the base plate which areomitted in the drawing of housing 100. The upper base portion 10 a andthe lower base portion 10 b form the base portion for lips.

The housing 100 is rectangular and comprises a display unit 110 of thetransmitting unit that displays the result of detection of lip closureforce, and a power switch 120 for starting the lip force detectingapparatus 1 when in operation. Moreover, the shape of the housing 100 isnot limited to rectangular and can be a cylinder or any other shapes.

The base portion for lips 10, wherein the design and type of the basefor receiving lips are not limited to linear design and can be inU-shaped design.

The upper base portion 10 a protrudes forward from the front side of thehousing 100 and has a denting towards the rear end in the middle of thebilateral direction (left-right direction) from the top view, whichforms in a curved shape from top view. The upper base portion 10 a has aspace in between the lower base portion 10 b in vertical direction,which is located above the lower base portion 10 b. The upper baseportion 10 a is integrally formed with elastic synthetic resin and canelastically reform. The synthetic resin used to form the upper baseportion 10 a can be, for example, styrene elastomer, polyesterelastomer, silicon rubber, polyethylene or vinyl chloride.

The upper base portion 10 a where its upper side of the surface thatcomes in contact with the lips comprises a front wall portion 11 a, arear wall portion 12 a, and a concave surface 13 a. The front wallportion 11 a is positioned above the upper base portion 10 a at thefront end and extends upwards from the left end to the right end. Thereis a notch portion 14 a in the center of the extending direction. Therear wall portion 12 a is positioned above the upper base portion 10 aat the rear end and extends upwards from the left end to the right end.The concave surface 13 a is located in the middle of the front wallportion 11 a and the rear wall portion 12 a, thus forming into a guttershape in the front and back direction.

The lower base portion 10 b protrudes forward from the front side of thehousing 100 and has a denting towards the rear end in the middle of thebilateral direction (left-right direction) from the top view, whichforms in a curved shape from bottom view. The lower base portion 10 bhas a space in between the upper base portion 10 a in verticaldirection, which is located below the upper base portion 10 a. The lowerbase portion 10 b is integrally formed with elastic synthetic resin andcan elastically reform. The synthetic resin used to form the lower baseportion 10 b can be for example, styrene elastomer, polyester elastomer,silicon rubber, polyethylene or vinyl chloride.

The lower base portion 10 b where its lower side of the surface thatcomes in contact with the lips comprises a front wall portion 11 b, arear wall portion 12 b, and a concave surface 13 b. The front wallportion 11 b is positioned below the lower base portion 10 b at thefront end and extends downwards from the left end to the right end.There is a notch portion 14 b in the center of the extending direction.The rear wall portion 12 b is positioned below the lower base portion 10b at the rear end and extends downwards from the left end to the rightend. The concave surface 13 b is located in the middle of the front wallportion 11 b and the rear wall portion 12 b, thus forming into a guttershape in the front and back direction.

The control unit 201 is activated after the power source 204 suppliespower and said control unit 201 processes different tasks throughoperating the control programs stored in the memory unit 203. Based onthe signals input through detecting unit 202 a and 202 b, the controlunit 201 respectively measures the pressing force generated when theleft side of lips presses the upper base portion 10 a and the lower baseportion 10 b, and measures the pressing force generated when the rightside of lips presses the upper base portion 10 a and the lower baseportion 10 b. According to the pressing force obtained above, thecontrol unit 201 can individually measure the lip closure force of theleft and right lips and display the difference of measured lip closureforce between the left and right lips on display unit 110 and thentransmit such signals.

The detecting unit 202 a measures the pressing force applied to theright side portion 101 a located at the right side of the notch portion14 a that is visible from the front of the concave surface 13 a of theupper base portion 10 a, and measures the pressing force applied to theright side portion 101 b located at the right side of the notch portion14 b that is visible from the front of the concave surface 13 b of thelower base portion 10 b, then sends the electric signals of thecorresponding measured values to the control unit 101. The detectingunit 202 a, for example may be a known loading sensor, detects themagnitude of pressing force applied to the right-side portion 101 a ofthe upper base portion 10 a and the right-side portion 101 b of thelower base portion 10 b. Moreover, the detecting unit 202 a may also usesensors other than the loading sensor to measure the pressing forceapplied to the right-side portion 101 a and the right-side portion 101b.

The detecting unit 202 b measures the pressing force applied to the leftside portion 102 a located at the left side of the notch portion 14 athat is visible from the front of the concave surface 13 a of the upperbase portion 10 a, and measures the pressing force applied to the leftside portion 102 b located at the left side of the notch portion 14 bthat is visible from the front of the concave surface 13 b of the lowerbase portion 10 b, then sends the electric signals of the correspondingmeasured values to the control unit 101. The detecting unit 202 b, forexample may be a known loading sensor, detects the magnitude of pressingforce applied to the left side portion 102 a of the upper base portion10 a and the left side portion 102 b of the lower base portion 10 b.Moreover, the detecting unit 202 b may also use sensors other than theloading sensor to measure the pressing force applied to the left sideportion 102 a and the left side portion 102 b.

The memory unit 203 may be control programs that are stored by thecontrol unit 201 in advance.

The power source 204, wherein it supplies electricity to the controlunit 201 when the power switch 120 is ON; and it stops supplyingelectricity to the control unit 201 when the power switch 120 is OFF.

[Operation of the Lip Force Detecting Apparatus]

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5, the lip force detecting apparatus 1 inembodiment 1 of the present invention is described below.

The lip force detecting apparatus 1 may be operated by turning the powerswitch 120 to ON, and the control unit 201 will be activated after powersource 204 supplies electricity thereof.

First, the user holds the housing 100 using the upper base portion 10 aand the lower base portion 10 b as the front side, then places the upperbase portion 10 a and the lower base portion 10 b inside the mouth.

The user uses his upper lips and lower lips to vertically press theupper base portion 10 a and the lower base portion 10 b which are placedinside the mouth.

The right side of the upper lip presses on the right-side portion 101 aof the upper base portion 10 a in downward direction. The left side ofthe upper lip presses on the left side portion 102 a of the upper baseportion 10 a in downward direction. The right side of the lower lippresses on the right-side portion 101 b of the lower base portion 10 bin upward direction. The left side of the lower lip presses on the leftside portion 102 b of the lower base portion 10 b in upward direction.

More specifically, referring to FIG. 2 to 4, by increasing the pressingforce of the right upper lip K1 exerted to the right side portion 101 aof the upper base portion 10 a, the surface mucosa of the right upperlip K1 expands in front and back direction at the concave surface 13 adue to the pressing force exerted on the right side portion 101 a;hence, the thickness of the mucosa of upper lip K1 between the muscletissue of the right side upper lip K1 and the right side portion 101 adecreases, causing the muscle tissue of the right side upper lip K1 topress the thinned mucosa tissue downwards (A1 direction) on the rightside portion 101 a. Meanwhile, the right-side portion 101 a may moveindependently from the left side portion 102 a by positioning a notchportion 14 a at the front wall portion 11 a of the upper base portion 10a. Therefore, it can move according to the pressing force of the rightside upper lip K1.

Moreover, by increasing the pressing force of the left upper lip exertedto the left side portion 102 a of the upper base portion 10 a, thesurface mucosa of the left upper lip K1 expands in front and backdirection at the concave surface 13 a due to the pressing force exertedon the left side portion 102 a; hence, the thickness of the mucosa ofupper lip K1 between the muscle tissue of the left side upper lip K1 andthe left side portion 102 a decreases, causing the muscle tissue of theleft side upper lip K1 to press the thinned mucosa tissue downwards onthe left side portion 102 a. Meanwhile, the left side portion 102 a maymove independently from the right-side portion 101 a by positioning anotch portion 14 a at the front wall portion 11 a of the upper baseportion 10 a. Therefore, it can move according to the pressing force ofthe left side upper lip K1.

Furthermore, referring to FIG. 2 to 4, by increasing the pressing forceof the right lower lip K2 exerted to the right side portion 101 b of thelower base portion 10 b, the surface mucosa of the right lower lip K2expands in front and back direction at the concave surface 13 b due tothe pressing force exerted on the right side portion 101 b; hence, thethickness of the mucosa of lower lip K2 between the muscle tissue of theright side lower lip K2 and the right side portion 101 b decreases,causing the muscle tissue of the right side lower lip K2 to press thethinned mucosa tissue upwards (A2 direction) on the right side portion101 b. Meanwhile, the right-side portion 101 b may move independentlyfrom the left side portion 102 b by positioning a notch portion 14 b atthe front wall portion 11 b of the lower base portion 10 b. Therefore,it can move according to the pressing force of the right side lower lipK2.

Moreover, by increasing the pressing force of the left lower lip exertedto the left side portion 102 b of the lower base portion 10 b, thesurface mucosa of the left lower lip K2 expands in front and backdirection at the concave surface 13 b due to the pressing force exertedon the left side portion 102 b; hence, the thickness of the mucosa oflower lip K2 between the muscle tissue of the left side lower lip K2 andthe left side portion 102 b decreases, causing the muscle tissue of theleft side lower lip K2 to press the thinned mucosa tissue upwards on theleft side portion 102 b. Meanwhile, the left side portion 102 b may moveindependently from the right-side portion 101 b by positioning a notchportion 14 b at the front wall portion 11 b of the lower base portion 10b. Therefore, it can move according to the pressing force of the leftside lower lip K2.

Further, the lip mucosa in between the upper lip and the right-sideportion 101 a and the left side portion 102 a of the upper base portion10 a and the lip mucosa in between the lower lip and the right-sideportion 101 a and the left side portion 102 a of the lower base portion10 b may become thinner. Therefore, it can exclude the pressure ofmuscles other than lip muscle and orbicularis oris muscle and suchpressing force exerted on the upper base portion 10 a and the lower baseportion 10 b. Only the pressing force of lip muscle tissue exists alone.

Besides, the concave surface 13 a and concave surface 13 b are formedinto a gutter shape. The upper lip may be guided to the right-sideportion 101 a and the left side portion 102 a by the concave surface 13a, and the lower lip may be guided to the right-side portion 102 a andthe left side portion 102 b by the concave surface 13 b. Through theprocess of using the concave surface 13 a and the concave surface 13 bto guide the upper and lower lips, the mucosa of the surface of upperand lower lips further expands in front and back direction.

Furthermore, the gutter shape of the concave surface 13 a and theconcave surface 13 b allows the concave surface 13 a to hold the upperlip and the concave surface 13 b to hold the lower lip; hence, to theright side portion 101 a and the left side portion 102 a, pressing forcefrom the upper lip may be particularly exerted thereof, while to theright side portion 101 b and the left side portion 102 a, pressing forcefrom the lower lip may be particularly exerted thereof.

The detecting unit 202 a may send out electric signals to the controlunit 201 according to the corresponding pressure force of the right sideof lip applied to the right-side portion 101 a of the upper base portion10 a and the right-side portion 101 b of the lower base portion 10 b.Moreover, the detecting unit 202 b may send out electric signals to thecontrol unit 201 according to the corresponding pressure force of theleft side of lip applied to the left side portion 102 a of the upperbase portion 10 a and the left side portion 102 b of the lower baseportion 10 b.

The control unit 201 measures the right lip closure force based on thesignal input from the detecting unit 202 a, and the left lip closureforce based on the signal input from the detecting unit 202 b. Then thecontrol unit 201 displays the detected right and left lip closure forceon the display unit and transmits such signals. Meanwhile, the controlunit 201 can display the difference of right and left lip closure forcecomparatively on the display unit 110. For example, the control unit 201can display the lip closure force of the right lip and the lip closureforce of the left lip in parallel on the display unit 110 and transmitsuch signals. The control unit 201 can exclude the pressing forcesexerted by muscles other than lips muscle and orbicularis oris muscleand only measures the pure pressing force of lip muscle tissue. It canaccurately measure the right and left lip closure force.

The user and health care workers can refer to the right and left lipsclosure force displayed on the display unit 110 to determine the weakspots of right and left lips. They can also notice hypoplasia, atrophyor paralysis at the weak spot so that such symptoms can be treated atearly stage.

According to this embodiment, this invention individually measures thepressing force generated when the left and right lips presses the upperbase portion 10 a and the lower base portion 10 b (base portion for lips10) respectively. It can calculate the pressing force difference ofright and left lip closure force through simple operations, and candiscover hypoplasia, atrophy or paralysis at the weak spot and treatthese symptoms at early stage.

Although in this embodiment, the front wall portion 11 a is located atthe front side of the upper base portion 10 a and the front wall portion11 b is located at the front side of the lower base portion 10 b, thefront wall portion 11 a can also be placed slightly towards the back ofthe front side of the upper base portion and the front wall portion 11 bcan also be placed slightly towards the back of the front side of thelower base portion.

Embodiment 2

Referring to FIGS. 6 to 8, the lip force detecting apparatus 2 inembodiment 2 of the present invention is described below.

In FIGS. 6 to 8, the configurations in FIGS. 1 to 4 that are the samewith the embodiment 2 are labeled with the same code. Hence, theirdescriptions are omitted.

The lip force detecting apparatus 2, comprising a housing 100, an upperright base portion 20 a, an upper left base portion 20 b, a lower rightbase portion 20 c, a lower left portion 20 d, a control unit 201, adetecting unit 202 a, a detecting unit 202 b, a memory unit 203, and apower source 204. The upper right base portion 20 a, the upper left baseportion 20 b, the lower base portion 20 c and the lower left portion 20d form into the base portion for lips. Moreover, the upper left baseportion 20 b and the lower left base portion 20 d form the first baseportion 210; whereas the upper right base portion 20 a and the lowerright base portion 20 c form the second base portion 220.

The housing 100 is rectangular and comprises a display unit 110 of thetransmitting unit that displays the result of detection of lip closureforce, and a power switch 120 for starting the lip force detectingapparatus 1 when in operation.

The upper right base portion 20 a protrudes forward from the front sideof the housing 100, which has a space in between the lower right baseportion 20 c in vertical direction and a space in between the upper leftbase portion 20 b in bilateral (left-right) direction. The upper rightbase portion 20 a where its upper side of the surface that comes incontact with the lips comprises a front wall portion 21, a rear wallportion 22, and a concave surface 23. The front wall portion 21 ispositioned above the upper right base portion 20 a at the front end andextends upwards from the left end to the right end. The rear wallportion 22 is positioned above the upper right base portion 20 a at therear end and extends upwards from the left end to the right end. Theconcave surface 23 is located in the middle of the front wall portion 21and the rear wall portion 22, thus forming into a gutter shape in thefront and back direction.

The upper left base portion 20 b protrudes forward from the front sideof the housing 100, which has a space in between the lower left baseportion 20 d in vertical direction and a space in between the upperright base portion 20 a in bilateral (left-right) direction. The upperleft base portion 20 b, referring to FIG. 8, where its upper side of thesurface that comes in contact with the lips comprises a front wallportion 21, a rear wall portion 22, and a concave surface 23. The frontwall portion 21 is positioned above the upper left base portion 20 b atthe front end and extends upwards from the left end to the right end.The rear wall portion 22 is positioned above the upper left base portion20 b at the rear end and extends upwards from the left end to the rightend. The concave surface 23 is located in the middle of the front wallportion 21 and the rear wall portion 22, thus forming into a guttershape in the front and back direction.

The lower right base portion 20 c protrudes forward from the front sideof the housing 100, which has a space in between the upper right baseportion 20 a in vertical direction and a space in between the lower leftbase portion 20 d in bilateral (left-right) direction. The lower rightbase portion 20 c where its lower side of the surface that comes incontact with the lips comprises a front wall portion 21, a rear wallportion 22, and a concave surface 23. The front wall portion 21 ispositioned above the lower right base portion 20 c at the front end andextends downwards from the left end to the right end. The rear wallportion 22 is positioned below the lower right base portion 20 c at therear end and extends downwards from the left end to the right end. Theconcave surface 23 is located in the middle of the front wall portion 21and the rear wall portion 22, thus forming into a gutter shape in thefront and back direction.

The lower left base portion 20 d protrudes forward from the front sideof the housing 100, which has a space in between the upper left baseportion 20 b in vertical direction and a space in between the lowerright base portion 20 c in bilateral (left-right) direction. The lowerleft base portion 20 d, referring to FIG. 8, where its lower side of thesurface that comes in contact with the lips comprises a front wallportion 21, a rear wall portion 22, and a concave surface 23. The frontwall portion 21 is positioned below the lower left base portion 20 d atthe front end and extends downwards from the left end to the right end.The rear wall portion 22 is positioned below the lower left base portion20 d at the rear end and extends downwards from the left end to theright end. The concave surface 23 is located in the middle of the frontwall portion 21 and the rear wall portion 22, thus forming into a guttershape in the front and back direction.

The detecting unit 202 a detects the pressing force of the upper rightbase portion 20 a and the lower right base portion 20 c and output thecorresponding signal to the control unit 201.

The detecting unit 202 b detects the pressing force of the upper leftbase portion 20 b and the lower left base portion 20 d and output thecorresponding signal to the control unit 201.

[Operation of the Lip Force Detecting Apparatus]

Referring to FIGS. 6 to 8, the operation of the lip force detectingapparatus 2 in embodiment 2 of the present invention is described below.

The lip force detecting apparatus 2 may be operated by turning the powerswitch 120 to ON, and the control unit 201 will be activated after powersource 204 supplies electricity thereof.

First, the user holds the housing 100 using the upper right base portion20 a, the upper left base portion 20 b, the lower right base portion 20c and the lower left base portion 20 d as the front side, then placesthe upper right base portion 20 a, the upper left base portion 20 b, thelower right base portion 20 c and the lower left base portion 20 dinside the mouth.

The user uses his upper lips and lower lips to vertically press theupper right base portion 20 a, the upper left base portion 20 b, thelower right base portion 20 c and the lower left base portion 20 d whichare placed inside the mouth.

The right side of the upper lip presses on the upper right-side portion20 a in downward direction. The left side of the upper lip presses onthe upper left side portion 20 b in downward direction. The right sideof the lower lip presses on the lower right-side portion 20 c in upwarddirection. The left side of the lower lip presses on the lower left sideportion 20 d in upward direction.

More specifically, by increasing the pressing force of the right upperlip K1 exerted to the concave surface 23 of the upper right side portion20 a, the surface mucosa of the right upper lip K1 expands in front andback direction at the concave surface 23 due to the pressing forceexerted on the bottom of the concave surface 23; hence, the thickness ofthe mucosa of upper lip K1 between the muscle tissue of the right sideupper lip K1 and the bottom of the concave surface 23 decreases, causingthe muscle tissue of the right side upper lip K1 to press the thinnedmucosa tissue downwards on the upper right side portion 20 a.

Moreover, referring to FIG. 8, by increasing the pressing force of theleft upper lip K1 exerted to the concave surface 23 of the upper leftside portion 20 b, the surface mucosa of the left upper lip K1 expandsin front and back direction at the concave surface 23 due to thepressing force exerted on the bottom of the concave surface 23; hence,the thickness of the mucosa of upper lip K1 between the muscle tissue ofthe left side upper lip K1 and the bottom of the concave surface 23decreases, causing the muscle tissue of the left side upper lip K1 topress the thinned mucosa tissue downwards (A1 direction) on the upperleft side portion 20 b.

Furthermore, by increasing the pressing force of the right lower lip K2exerted to the concave surface 23 of the lower right side portion 20 c,the surface mucosa of the right lower lip K1 expands in front and backdirection at the concave surface 23 due to the pressing force exerted onthe bottom of the concave surface 23; hence, the thickness of the mucosaof lower lip K2 between the muscle tissue of the right side lower lip K2and the bottom of the concave surface 23 decreases, causing the muscletissue of the right side lower lip K2 to press the thinned mucosa tissueupwards on the lower right side portion 20 c.

Additionally, by increasing the pressing force of the left lower lip K2exerted to the concave surface 23 of the lower left side portion 20 d,the surface mucosa of the left lower lip K2 expands in front and backdirection at the concave surface 23 due to the pressing force exerted onthe bottom of the concave surface 23; hence, the thickness of the mucosaof lower lip K2 between the muscle tissue of the left side lower lip K2and the bottom of the concave surface 23 decreases, causing the muscletissue of the left side lower lip K2 to press the thinned mucosa tissueupwards on the lower left side portion 20 d.

Further, the lip mucosa in between the upper lip and the upperright-side portion 20 a and the upper left side portion 20 b of thebottom of the concave surface 23 and the lip mucosa in between the lowerlip and the lower right-side portion 20 c and the lower left sideportion 20 d may become thinner. Therefore, it can exclude the pressureof muscles other than lip muscle and orbicularis oris muscle and suchpressing force exerted on the upper right-side portion 20 a, upper leftside portion 20 b, lower right-side portion 20 c and lower left sideportion 20 d. Only the pressing force of lip muscle tissue exists alone.

Besides, the concave surface 23 is formed into a gutter shape. The upperlip and lower lip may be guided to the concave surface 23 by the bottomof the concave surface 23. Through the process of using the concavesurface 23 to guide the upper and lower lips, the mucosa of the surfaceof upper and lower lips further expands in front and back direction.

Furthermore, the gutter shape of the concave surface 23 allows theconcave surface 23 to hold the upper lip and the lower lip; hence, tothe bottom of the concave surface 23, pressing force from the upper lipand lower lip may be particularly exerted thereof.

The detecting unit 202 a may send out electric signals to the controlunit 201 according to the corresponding pressure force of the right sideof lip applied to the upper right-side portion 20 a and the lowerright-side portion 20 c. Moreover, the detecting unit 202 b may send outelectric signals to the control unit 201 according to the correspondingpressure force of the left side of lip applied to the upper left sideportion 20 b and the lower left side portion 20 d.

The control unit 201 measures the right lip closure force based on thesignal input from the detecting unit 202 a, and the left lip closureforce based on the signal input from the detecting unit 202 b. Then thecontrol unit 201 displays the detected right and left lip closure forceon the display unit 110 and transmits such signals. Meanwhile, thecontrol unit 201 can display the difference of right and left lipclosure force comparatively on the display unit 110. For example, thecontrol unit 201 can display the lip closure force of the right lip andthe lip closure force of the left lip in parallel on the display unit110 and transmit such signals. The control unit 201 can exclude thepressing forces exerted by muscles other than lips muscle andorbicularis oris muscle and only measures the pure pressing force of lipmuscle tissue. It can accurately measure the right and left lip closureforce.

The user and health care workers can refer to the right and left lipsclosure force displayed on the display unit 110 to determine the weakspots of right and left lips. They can also notice hypoplasia, atrophyor paralysis at the weak spot so that such symptoms can be treated atearly stage.

According to this embodiment, this invention individually measures thepressing force generated when the left lip presses the upper right baseportion 20 a and the lower right base portion 20 c (base portion forlips 10), and the right lip presses the upper left base portion 20 b andthe lower left base portion 20 d (base portion for lips 10). It cancalculate the pressing force difference of right and left lip closureforce through simple operations, and can discover hypoplasia, atrophy orparalysis at the weak spot and treat these symptoms at early stage.

In this embodiment, the upper right base portion 20 a and the lowerright base portion 20 c, the upper left portion 20 b and the lower leftbase portion 20 d has a spacing in between and are placed in bilateral(left-right) direction. This enables the upper right base portion 20 aand the lower right base portion 20 c, the upper left portion 20 b andthe lower left base portion 20 d to move independently and measure thelip closure force of left and right lips more precisely.

In this embodiment, the front wall portion 21 is located at the frontside of the upper right base portion 20 a, the upper left base portion20 b, the lower right base portion 20 c and the lower left base portion20 d. The front wall portion 21 can also be placed slightly towards theback of the front side of the upper right base portion 20 a, the upperleft base portion 20 b, the lower right base portion 20 c and the lowerleft base portion 20 d.

In this embodiment, although the front portion of the upper right baseportion 20 a, the upper left portion 20 b, the lower right portion 20 c,and the lower left portion 20 d are in a linear shape when viewed fromthe above or below, the front portion of the upper right base portion 20a, the upper left portion 20 b, the lower right portion 20 c, and thelower left portion 20 d can also be in a curved shape that graduallyprotrudes from the inner side to the outer side towards the frontportion when viewed from the above or below.

The types, configuration and quantity of the components in embodimentsof this invention are not limited to the aforementioned embodiments.Proper modifications to change the components and achieve the sameresults are possible within the scope of embodiments of the invention.

More specifically, in said embodiments 1 and 2, although saidembodiments 1 and 2 display the right and left lip closure force on thedisplay unit 110 and transmit their signals, said embodiments can alsotransmit the signal of the right and left lip closure force throughspeakers in the form of audio or sound. It can also transmit the signalof the right and left lip closure force through LED lights in the formof light.

Moreover, in the first and second embodiment, although the difference ofthe right and left lip closure force can be comparatively shown by saidembodiments on the display unit 110, said embodiments can also store thepressing force detected from the detecting unit 202 a and the pressingforce detected from the detecting unit 202 b in an external memorydrive. In this situation, when the external memory drive is connected toan external personal computer, the difference of the right and left lipclosure force may be displayed in comparison in the monitor.

The lip force detecting apparatus of embodiments of present invention isused to measure the lip closure force.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the form ofpreferred embodiments and variations thereon, it will be understood thatnumerous additional modifications and variations could be made theretowithout departing from the scope of the invention.

For the sake of clarity, it is to be understood that the use of ‘a’ or‘an’ throughout this application does not exclude a plurality, and‘comprising’ does not exclude other steps or elements.

What is claimed is:
 1. A lip force detecting apparatus for detecting a closure force of lips, comprising: a housing: a base portion for lips protruding from the housing, the base portion configured to be pressed using upper and lower lips; and a detecting unit measuring: i) a pressing force applied to the base portion by pressing a left side of lips, and ii) a pressing force applied to the base portion by pressing a right side of lips.
 2. The lip force detecting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the base portion comprises a front wall portion located at an upper side and a lower side that extends horizontally from a left end to a right end, respectively, further wherein the front wall portion has a notch portion in a middle of a horizontal extension.
 3. The lip force detecting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the base portion is formed by positioning a first base portion and a second base portion on the left side and the right side with a gap in between, further wherein the detecting unit respectively detects the pressing force generated when the left side of lips presses the first base portion and the pressing force generated when the right side of lips presses the second base portion.
 4. The lip force detecting apparatus of claim 1, wherein the base portion comprises a concave surface at a surface where the lip force detecting apparatus contacts the lips.
 5. The lip force detecting apparatus of claim 1, comprising: a transmitting unit, wherein the detecting unit measures the pressing force generated when the left side of lips presses the base portion and the pressing force generated when the right side of lips presses the base portion, compares a difference of forces between both lips and transmit such signals. 